Even if Jun Qian asked her to let that player clear the dungeon, she would never agree—after all, there was still the temptation of the “Continuous Team Wipe Badge.”
But since he said nothing, it was obvious he was confident he could get his client through her dungeon.
If he wanted a fight, she’d give him one. She was curious to see what an S-Rank NPC was capable of.
Earlier, Su Shisan had left the Clown doll—a huge trap—at the Energy Station.
The Clown doll had to be sold within ten minutes of being put on the shelf, or the Blue Uniform Employee would be forced to become a Red-Clothed Employee.
Unlike Blue Uniform Employees, who were relatively safe as long as they did their job, Red-Clothed Employees had to interact with the Clown (the source of corruption) and actively harm players, making their job much more dangerous.
Most importantly, these passively transformed Red-Clothed Employees had to go to the Park Director’s office to receive the rules.
But on the way, they were sure to trigger other rules, and without knowing the rules, Red-Clothed Employees would die quickly.
After all, to prevent players from becoming the more powerful Red-Clothed Employees, Su Shisan had set very harsh rules for them—even harsher than for players.
If Jun Qian could handle the Clown doll, he might survive. If not, he wouldn’t last long.
Ten minutes passed without any increase in Red-Clothed Employees, so Su Shisan knew Jun Qian hadn’t fallen for the trap.
Then again, it was to be expected—a S-Rank NPC would have enough awareness to find the Blue Uniform Employee rules.
Rubbing her temples, she quickly made up her mind and contacted Fu Mingxu, who was wandering outside:
“The clerk in the first Energy Station has been replaced by a player. If you’re bored, go mess with him a bit.”
“OK.” Fu Mingxu instantly perked up. He’d been wandering the map aimlessly for lack of a task, but now the Builder had given him one. It was perfect timing.
With everything arranged, Su Shisan changed her appearance to that of a tourist wearing a mask.
But if she took off the mask, you’d see a bright red Clown nose on her face—who says only people in full Clown costume can be a Clown?
In this dungeon’s setting, anyone with a red nose is a Clown. The reason there are so many Clowns openly wearing Clown costumes is just to confuse the players.
Of course, Clowns didn’t just have the red nose setting. There was also the option to wear either a Clown shell or a Red Uniform Employee uniform.
But as a Clown herself, she didn’t need to wear the Red Uniform outside—hiding it under her jacket was fine.
Scanning the surroundings, she quickly locked onto three players walking together. With only 24 players in total, she remembered every face and had no fear of mixing them up.
“Hello, friends. Do you need any help?” Su Shisan approached and asked in a sneaky whisper.
The three players had been wary since she came near, but were momentarily stunned by her question. The man with slicked-back hair, clearly the leader, asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m just a pitiful soul trapped in this amusement park, offering help to anyone who might escape, hoping they’ll take me with them when they leave.” Su Shisan blinked pitifully.
Help from someone with their own needs is believable; unconditional help only raises suspicion. She knew this well.
As expected, the leader’s expression softened a little. He didn’t fully trust Su Shisan, but he felt there was at least some truth in her words.
After all, who wouldn’t want to leave this creepy place?
“What can you help us with?” the leader asked.
As he spoke, he signaled the stylish girl in the dark green vest beside him. She nodded, and the two seemed to reach some tacit agreement.
The third member of the group, wearing a shirt with an anime girl print, pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and kindly warned, “Please don’t lie. The goddess of fate will punish dishonest people.”
Su Shisan ignored their eye contact and the third guy’s chuunibyou remarks, instead asking mysteriously, “Perhaps you’ve heard of the Ghost House in the amusement park?”
Main quest triggered!
The three players’ eyes lit up, but their wariness increased. The Ghost House was supposedly non-existent, according to their tickets.
Now someone was directly telling them about it—it was only natural to be suspicious.
But since the ticket required them to check in at the Ghost House, even if wary, they had to hear her out before deciding.
Su Shisan grinned smugly. “I know you’ve heard that ‘Thirteen Joy District’ doesn’t have a Ghost House, but in fact, it does. It’s just that the Ghost House involves the amusement park’s secrets, so they’ve hidden it.”
There were too many suspicious points in this statement, and the three didn’t know where to start questioning.
What secret did the Ghost House involve? Who were “they”? Why did the masked girl know all this?
After a moment’s pause, the leader spoke again: “What’s the secret of the Ghost House?”
“How should I know?” Su Shisan replied righteously. “If I knew, maybe I’d already be out. Why would I be hoping for you?”
That made some sense, but was somehow annoying. The leader twitched his lips and chose to ask the key question: “So what do you know? Where is the Ghost House?”
Su Shisan nodded smugly. “That’s right, that’s what I know! But I can’t just tell you for free.”
Hearing this, the leader glanced at the girl in the green vest, and after she nodded solemnly, he asked, “So what do you want? For us to take you with us?”
That would be too suspicious. Su Shisan nodded, then shook her head.
“Being taken out is my ultimate goal, but I’ve pinned my hopes on too many people and been disappointed. So I need some practical compensation.”
A vague promise is too easy to dismiss—real, sunk costs make people value and trust her words: “A fair price—one hundred and fifty Game Tokens.”
This trio seemed strong, so she had to squeeze more Game Tokens out of them, in case they cleared the game too easily.
They probably hadn’t realized yet just how useful Game Tokens were in this amusement park.
To maintain dungeon balance and ensure the system approved the high-difficulty scenario, Su Shisan had to design it this way.
Game Tokens could be used for more than just buying things at the shop—they could also be used to bribe NPCs. Whether a tourist or an employee, as long as you had enough tokens, you could bribe them.
To prevent anyone from discovering this too soon, she didn’t mind burning up some of the players’ tokens herself.
A hundred and fifty Game Tokens was no small sum, and the leader frowned. The green-vested girl pursed her lips. “She’s telling the truth.”
She had a truth-detecting ability, which was why the others kept looking at her.
Even though it was a temporary team, the other two trusted her a lot. Hearing this, the leader asked, “So for one hundred and fifty tokens, all three of us get to find the Ghost House, right?”
“Of course.” Su Shisan nodded. “I’m selling three-person access.”
“Alright, we’ll pay.” He agreed decisively.
Once the leader made up his mind, the three each handed over fifty Game Tokens.
After collecting the money, Su Shisan took out three uninflated black balloons. “After midnight, blow up the balloons and follow where they float. That’s how you’ll find the Ghost House.”
“In that case, couldn’t we just buy one and all follow it?” The chuunibyou boy was the first to react.
“Of course not.” Su Shisan gave him a reproachful look. “If it worked that way, how would I make money?”
Each balloon represented a Clown. If they took the balloons to the hotel, the Clowns could enter too. The more balloons, the more slaughter.
There was no way she’d set it up so that just one balloon would let everyone find the Ghost House.
The chuunibyou boy rolled his eyes. “I feel like you’re saying something suspicious. So why? Why can’t one balloon let us all find it?”
The green-vested girl said coldly, “If you don’t answer properly, we’ll take our extra hundred tokens back.”
“The balloon isn’t just a guide—it’s also your ticket into the Ghost House.” Su Shisan immediately caved and answered honestly.
Blue Uniform Employees had dungeon protection, but she didn’t—no need to push her luck.
Once they were satisfied she was telling the truth, the three accepted the deal. The leader put away the balloons.
“So what will you do next? Are you coming with us?”
Clearly, she was a key NPC. While not necessarily friendly, having her in the party was more beneficial than not.
But Su Shisan declined the half-invitation. “I still have to cast a wide net and catch more fish. I wish you luck in solving the Ghost House’s mystery and taking me out of this amusement park.”
“Hey! How do we find you when we figure out how to leave?” the leader shouted as she turned to go.
Su Shisan waved casually. “I’ll show up when the time comes.”
Leaving the trio, she rubbed her cheeks, which were stiff from acting. “Maxed-out acting skills sure are useful, but it’s exhausting.”
Still, the results were good. She’d managed to appear harmless. A little scheming wasn’t “harmful”—if anything, it made players trust her more. After all, who in a dungeon wasn’t a little cunning?
She needed the players to trust her. That way, if someone really did manage to leave the dungeon, and took her with them, she could deliver her fatal blow at the exit.
“Time to find the next target.” Su Shisan looked up at the sky. The sun was directly overhead. “It’s almost noon…”
***
“It’s noon already, shouldn’t we have lunch?” Under the scorching sun, [Chuhe Ridangwu] couldn’t help but ask.
But her teammates had no such thoughts. “How can we rest? We’ve only done four attractions all morning! At this rate, we’ll never finish ten!”
Another person nodded excitedly. “Yeah, I think we can keep going! And don’t you think these rides are really interesting?”
“I… don’t really think so…” The girl with the “Spirit +10” talent felt something was off, but seeing her teammates unwilling to stop for food or rest, she could only suppress her hunger and follow them to the next task point.
However, on the Pirate Ship, her three teammates started having problems!
The first suddenly lost his mind, broke free from the already-loose safety belt, and jumped off the ship.
The second, after a brief moment of shock, inexplicably stood still, unmoving, and was then snatched away by pirates who suddenly appeared on the ship.
Even though the remaining two tried to help, they couldn’t save him.
The third, after witnessing the previous two’s fate, huddled together with [Chuhe Ridangwu] in fear. But soon, he too lost his mind and attacked her ferociously, forcing [Chuhe Ridangwu] to eliminate him.
She had to admit, she was lucky the crazed player wasn’t very strong. Otherwise, with her own lack of fighting ability, she might not have been able to get rid of the temporary teammate.
Now, standing alone after getting off the Pirate Ship, the girl was completely bewildered. “What just happened?”
How did one ride on the Pirate Ship wipe out all her teammates? She was fine, so why did the others all lose their minds?
They’d been together the whole time, doing the same things. Why was she the only one left unscathed?
What was different about her compared to the others?
[Chuhe Ridangwu] reviewed everything that had happened that day and suddenly realized something—
She was the only one who wasn’t hungry.
Thinking back, they’d already started acting strangely at that point. Who in their right mind would actually enjoy these ridiculous challenges? Even if they weren’t hard, they were still scary!
After pondering for a moment, [Chuhe Ridangwu] uncertainly opened her status panel:
Was it because of Spirit Power?
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.